Why Should We Choose Our Language Carefully?
Language is a tool for imparting ideas and desires to one another. A living language like English has so many twists and turns in with many words not only being polysemous but also being used in a metaphorically descriptive way rather than relating to any normative use. If you were to tell me the traffic was crazy today, I wouldn’t think for a moment you had been giving it a psychological evaluation. Even if you told me your child was......
In Response to Daniel Goldman on Belief
Introduction Recently I encountered Daniel Goldman a couple of times on Twitter. The first time was during a discussion about the use of the words atheism, theism, agnosticism, etc. The conversation was pleasant enough, especially when we consider how many of those kinds of discussions go! The second encounter was a discussion about belief, and how it is defined. Daniel disputed the definition of belief that I presented, and a discussion about said topic ensued. There was a lot of......
Tribalism and the Psychology of Rejection.
I’ve spoken about our tribal nature before, often about specific groups like antivaxxers, flat earthers, fundamentalists, fanboys etc but I have also turned that inwards to take a look at atheists and what the ‘new atheist’ movement has become. Let’s first briefly go over the basics so we are sure we are on the same page, and then move forward. Our Tribal Nature Humans are a tribal species. It’s in our DNA. We worked together in groups to survive as......
Cognitive Bias
I’ve come across a lot of bias on the internet. I have even spoken at length in previous articles about Confirmation Bias, and how I have made mistakes through a cognitive bias to people I trust. I’ve noticed in conversations with people I felt I had a mutual respect with, they are often less inclined to listen if I suggest something they don’t agree with. This is amplified if the suggestion is something that is against the general atheist consensus......
